by Sinead Slattery

In times of unprecedented change—when AI reshapes industries overnight and uncertainty has become the only constant—leaders face a critical question: How do we build organizations that can adapt, innovate, and thrive when the future is unknowable?

The answer lies not in having all the answers, but in creating environments where people feel safe enough to navigate uncertainty together.

The Science Is Clear: Psychological Safety Drives Performance

Harvard Business School Professor Amy C. Edmondson coined the term "team psychological safety" in the 1990s to describe work environments where candor is expected and where employees can speak up without fear of retribution. Her research defined it as a shared belief held by team members that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking, finding that learning behavior mediates between team psychological safety and team performance.

The evidence is compelling. Google's Project Aristotle, which analyzed over 180 teams, found that psychological safety was correlated with 43% of the variance in team performance, with teams showing 19% higher productivity, 31% more innovation, and 27% lower turnover rates. McKinsey research shows that psychological safety is consistently one of the strongest predictors of team performance, productivity, quality, safety, creativity, and innovation.

Yet in a McKinsey Global Survey conducted during the pandemic, just 43 percent of respondents reported a positive team climate, the most important driver of psychological safety. The gap between knowing and doing remains vast.

The Leader's Obligation: Three Essential Practices

Creating psychological safety isn't a nice-to-have—it's the leader's fundamental obligation in a future-focused organization. The framework is deceptively simple, but requires rigorous practice.

1. Set the Stage

Before anything else, leaders must frame the work in ways that invite full engagement.

Frame the "What": Be crystal clear about what you're asking people to do. "We need to continue executing at a high level. This is going to be really hard and we need all of you on board." Clarity is kindness, as Brené Brown reminds us.

Articulate the "Why": Connect the work to a noble purpose beyond profit. "If you do X, it will result in Y for our customers." People need to know they're serving something larger than themselves. What doesn't work? "We'll make more money." You need to get into the hearts of people, not just their heads.

McKinsey research identifies consultative leadership—where leaders solicit input from team members and consider their views—as having direct effects on psychological safety. But consultation only works when people understand what they're being consulted about and why it matters.

2. Invite Participation

Silence in meetings doesn't mean agreement—it means fear. McKinsey research on leadership behaviors found that open-dialogue skills, which allow leaders to explore disagreements and talk through tension, and sponsorship—enabling others' success ahead of one's own—are among the most important for fostering psychological safety.

Practice Situational Humility: Use phrases that signal you genuinely need others' perspectives:

"I can't do this on my own"
"We've tried this in the past, and I need you all on board"
"I need your perspective on this"

Research by Chris Argyris teaches us that advocacy blurs inquiry. When leaders rush to share their own views, they shut down exploration. Delay your advocacy. Ask questions first—and make them genuine questions where you'll actually learn something new.

Create Process and Structure: Don't just ask for input—design for it. Assign rotating roles. "Your job in this meeting is to be the devil's advocate and pressure-test all ideas." But be careful: our job as leaders is not to get quick compliance, it's to invite genuine thinking.

One caveat: going around the room to hear everyone's point of view is rarely effective. It creates performative participation, not genuine dialogue. Instead, mention people by name when you need their specific expertise. Research shows that mentioning someone's name in a meeting significantly increases their participation.

3. Respond Productively

How you respond to participation determines whether people will ever speak up again.

Express Genuine Appreciation: Not participation trophies—real gratitude for the courage it takes to share. "Thank you for bringing that up. That's exactly what we need to be talking about."

Reframe Failure as Learning: Amy Edmondson's framework in "Right Kind of Wrong" distinguishes between three archetypes of failure: basic failures that should be prevented, complex failures caused by multiple factors, and intelligent failures that occur in new territory with a hypothesis and bring valuable new knowledge.

Intelligent failures meet four criteria: they happen in new territory where there's genuine uncertainty, they pursue a desired goal, they're hypothesis-driven with good reason to think the approach might work, and they're appropriately small to minimize risk.

When someone on your team tries something bold and it doesn't work, your response determines your team's future. Ask yourself: Is this a "new beep" or an "old beep"? If we're repeatedly learning the same thing, we need process improvement, not blame. If it's genuinely new learning, celebrate it.

Sanction Bad Behavior Swiftly: Psychological safety is not "anything goes." Eye rolls, side conversations, dismissive comments—these poison the well. Leaders who demonstrate supportive leadership show concern for team members not only as employees but also as individuals, creating positive team climate. Part of that support means protecting people from toxic behavior.

Only the leader can sanction behavior. Do it privately when possible, but do it. Ignored problems get bigger.

The AI Era Demands Psychological Safety

Anyone who claims to know exactly what will happen with AI is overconfident. Their circle of certainty is outside their square of actual knowledge.

In this moment, we have a choice: stay up late worrying, or double down on developing our people. Recent research shows that psychological safety provides a powerful organizational salve for stressful times, with practices such as being open about not knowing and rewarding people for taking interpersonal risks providing a foundation for doing the hard things necessary when crisis hits.

Make Development Sacred: At least one 1:1 conversation per month should be entirely about development, not projects or deliverables. In uncertain times, the best preparation for any future is rigorous thinking, critical analysis, and the ability to learn rapidly.

Acknowledge the Anxiety: If people have anxiety about AI, disruption, or change and don't talk about it, they don't metabolize it—and it becomes unproductive worry. Create space to discuss what's on people's minds. Over-emphasize development in times of uncertainty.

Practical Tools for Daily Practice

Calling Out Bad Behavior in the Moment: This takes skill. Generally, handle bad behavior later, in private. But if you must address something in the moment, try:

A do-over: "I'm so sorry, will you say that again, and if you could think about everyone in the room as you say it?"
Named awareness: "When I think about this again tonight, here's the part that will be hard to metabolize."

Then follow up privately: "That was a heated moment. In long form, what were you trying to communicate? What are short-form ways to communicate that to a diverse audience?"

Step in Front of Blame, Step Aside from Credit: As a leader, absorb the awkward moments so your team doesn't have to. When things go well, shine the light on others. This isn't just noble—it's strategic. Research shows that increasing psychological safety helps employees feel less burnt out and more likely to stay, even when facing difficult circumstances.

Team Process Resets

When teams struggle, resist the urge to bulldoze forward. Instead:

Honor the past blame-free: Mine the past for awesomeness, not just failures. Apply situational humility: "We're figuring this out together."
Co-create the path forward: Don't default to "my way or the highway." Develop a compact: What do you need from me? What do I need from you? What do we all need from each other?
Metabolize scar tissue, but don't dwell: Talking about past hurts helps people move forward, but it can't be the only conversation.

The Bottom Line

McKinsey research found that employees who report their organizations invest substantially in leadership development are 64 percent more likely to rate senior leaders as more inclusive. Creating psychological safety isn't magic—it's a learnable skill set that requires investment, practice, and commitment.

As Edmondson and Kerrissey note in their 2025 Harvard Business Review article, psychological safety doesn't mean being nice, doesn't mean getting your way, doesn't mean job security, doesn't require a trade-off with performance, isn't just a policy, and doesn't require only a top-down approach. It means creating environments where people can do their best work by speaking truth, taking smart risks, and learning together.

In future-focused organizations, psychological safety isn't the soft stuff that gets in the way of performance—it's the foundation that makes extraordinary performance possible. The question isn't whether you can afford to invest in it. It's whether you can afford not to.

As we navigate an unknowable future, remember: vulnerability is a fact. Each of us is a fallible human being working in a complex world. The wisdom question is simple: Are you okay with that? If you are, you'll show up differently—as someone not trying to be perfect, but willing to deal with the reality of our shared vulnerability.

That's where the future gets built.

References

Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383.
Edmondson, A. C. (2023). Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well. Atria Books.
Edmondson, A. C., & Kerrissey, M. (2025). Psychological Safety Isn't a Free-for-All. Harvard Business Review.
Duhigg, C. (2016). What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. The New York Times Magazine.
De Smet, A., Lund, S., & Schaninger, W. (2016). Organizing for the future. McKinsey Quarterly.
Delizonna, L. (2017). High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety. Here's How to Create It. Harvard Business Review.
Smet, A., Hewes, S., & Weiss, L. (2021). The link between inclusion and belonging at work and its impact on performance. McKinsey & Company.
Argyris, C. (1991). Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review, 69(3), 99-109.
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.

10. McKinsey & Company. (2022). Psychological safety and the critical role of leadership development.